Audi has updated its top dog luxury limo, the S8. Rory headed across to Munich to drive it for the first time and to discover whether it can challenge the Mercedes S-Class.
Hey guys welcome back to the channel and welcome specifically to windy rainy sleety munich if you can hear the noise that’s the airport over there but it’s all good because i have the brand new audi s8 next to me well i say new it’s not really new it’s basically a facelifted version of the previous car but that’s not a bad thing because i said back in 2020 that the
S8 was the best car in the world and audi are promising that this new version is even better with better looks better performance better technology better everything let’s see if it’s true let’s start by talking about the design shall we as a 747 starts to take off over there it’s got a brand new front end new front bumper and a bigger wider grille than before
And it’s very upright as well almost like blunt at the front like an suv lots of impact there i like that plus if you look closely it’s got these l-shaped lozenges here in a satin material but you can also get that in black it’s also got very upright air vents at the side and a new set of headlights the first thing i like about these lights is it’s got this audi
Logo just down here that’s quite a nice touch plus there are three different types of headlight there’s led there’s matrix led and there’s digital matrix led both of those last two are an upgrade the digital matrix leds are very clever because they contain 1.3 million micro mirrors so they project very precise beams of light high resolution light on the road in
Front of you and they can work out whether you’re on a country road a motorway and light it accordingly without blinding other road users very fancy i’ll show you the rest in just a second but let me just point out one thing i’m not a big fan of the sensors scattered around the front of these cars um they’re not very discreet are they almost looks like old-school
Light bulbs on the side there you’ve got the big radar down there and on the audi logo which is kind of hollow on these three rings you’ve got glossy black plastic which looks alright but the one on the right has a fairly cheap looking black material which kind of ruins the effect but there you go on the side not much has changed it’s still very much an s8 but
You do get a new choice of wheels with 18s 19s 20s and 21s this has got 20s with the optional carbon ceramic brakes i like this as well it’s got the soft closing doors so you place it up against the door and it just closes nicely on the s8 you get this chrome material for the wing mirrors around the back there’s even more changes subtle of course but there are
Changes it’s got this chrome strap all the way across the rear you’ve got a continuous led light bar quite exhaust because this is the s8 with a lovely v8 engine and for the first time ever that i’ve seen anyway oh led lights on the rear first time i’ve seen digital lights front and rear on the car i’m not sure why they’re oled organic light emitting diode the
Same technology you use on your fancy televisions but here they are apparently these will light up whenever another vehicle gets within six feet of your car i don’t know why it does that but it’s cool i guess let’s go for a drive so what’s it like inside the new audi s8 well it’s a lot like the old audi s8 to be honest if you jump in this there’s not a lot of
Difference between this car and the previous generation which is good and bad if you get into one of these cars major rivals the mercedes s-class then immediately you’re going to be blown away by the sheer quantity of technology inside that thing you’ve got this big tablet interface you’ve got fingerprint recognition you’ve got cameras that scan your face you’ve
Got ambient lights that dance around and react to every single thing you do and then you jump inside this s8 and it’s all a bit sort of meh in a way wait no understated is maybe a better way of saying that but yeah it doesn’t really blow you away the cabin doesn’t feel old though it still feels quite fresh there’s a lot to like about it i particularly like this
Carbon fiber effect the suede the leather audi doesn’t do an animal free version of their interior in the a8 and s8 quite yet but it still looks quite nice and i do love the little motorized touches so you’ve got these motorized vents up on the dashboard and motorized bang olufsen tweeters on the top of the dash as well those work really nicely as for the main
Infotainment setup it’ll be familiar if you’ve ever sat in any audi it’s got two screens one for your main infotainment and one for your climate control and those two screens work independently of each other or together for example if you’re entering a destination into the sat nav the lower screen will turn into a virtual touch pad for you to scroll your address
Using your fingers and it does work pretty effectively you’ve also got the audi virtual cockpit which i’m sure you’ll already know about it’s a screen up here on the instrument pinnacle which shows your map your speed and all your relevant driving data plus for this new car audi have introduced of course a voice assistant because it’s 2022 and you gotta have a
Voice assistant so hey audi i’m cold what temperature should i set for you 27 degrees i’ll increase the temperature to 27 degrees very obliging adaptive air suspension comes as standard on the a8 which means the dampers can either be soft or firm depending on which driving mode you’re in but if you buy the s8 you get predictive air suspension which goes a step
Further this uses cameras to scan the road ahead and can load or unload each wheel individually using electric motors if it senses you’re going around the corner it can lean into that corner like a motorbike if you brake hard it can push the nose up to keep the car flat if you accelerate hard it pushes up the back to do the same and this is the really clever bit
It can jump over speed bumps the body stays completely level but the wheels go up and down over the bumps so the ride is perfectly smooth it’s a nice touch and it works well but there’s another cool aspect of this suspension that i want to show you check this out this is extremely clever when you approach your vehicle it will automatically raise the height of
The suspension to make it easier for you to get in so if i open the door look at that it just pops up so i don’t have to uh lower myself quite as far to sit in the seat and if i then leave the vehicle and lock it it should lower again a little bit slowly but how cool is that good for my arthritis i think also good for arthritis is the comfortable cabin the a8
And s8 are available in short or long wheelbase forms taking the length from 17 feet to 17 and a half feet that’s 5 320 millimeters in total if you prefer metric the short wheelbase cars offer decent but not mind-blowing legroom as you can see here with good headroom if you’re a chauffeur or you just like stretching out you’ll be better off with a long wheelbase
And be particularly pleased with the way the front passenger seat folds down and deploys the footrest both versions have the option of a new rear seat entertainment system at a cost of 4 000 pounds which includes two 10.1 inch hd displays another tablet located between the rear seats allows you to control the infotainment blinds and even the position of the seats
In front of you so it’s nice for passengers but it’s also fabulous for the driver one of the things that really strikes you when you drive an s8 is how comfortable it is if you knock the drive select into comfort plus everything just slackens off and it just feels like you’re driving in greece not the country in like lard or something or butter it just feels
Really plush it’s lovely you’ve also got acoustic glass double glazing which means that you can’t hear anything at all maybe the odd bit of wind noise but road noise is almost completely absent it’s such a silent serene cabin it’s also very easy to drive around town because you’ve got all-wheel steering this isn’t quite as extreme as the all-wheel steering in the
Mercedes s-class where you can see the rear wheels do dramatic movements in comparison to the front wheels but it does still contribute to making this car feel a lot more nimble especially around town the a8 has four engine options available a 50 tdi diesel a 55 tfsi petrol and a 60 tfsi e plug-in hybrid that last one produces 462 horsepower and is good for north
To 62 in 4.9 seconds it will even run on its 17.9 kilowatt hour battery pack for around 30 miles or work with the petrol motor to get a claimed 156 miles per gallon if you’re able to top the battery up of course the s8 is obviously the top dog when it comes to engines this one uses a four liter turbocharged v8 which knocks out 571 horsepower and 800 newton meters
Of torque it will do not 62 in 3.8 seconds so it’s quicker than a lot of sports cars and it actually sounds better than a lot of sports cars as well i love that rumble of the v8 it sounds tremendous honestly and also you’ve got this eight-speed tiptronic gearbox which around town is nice and smooth but when you take manual control of it it’s so responsive and when
You change gears you actually get a little kick just to reinforce that the gears have actually changed just to make it feel that a little bit more engaging as for handling well it’s a big old barge this thing an understeer is something you’ve got to keep an eye on so it’s a good idea to go into the corners fairly slowly before you get on the power and catapult
Yourself out of the exit you’ve got quattro permanent all-wheel drive so traction is never an issue in this car and the handling’s really nice it stays nice and flat through the corners and it’s actually reasonably rewarding a little bit of understeer there but you know we can deal with that and away we go obviously i did say the previous generation s8 was the
Best car in the world yep i said it deal with it so is this new s8 still the best car in the world you know what it’s very good very very good in fact but i still think the s-class might have the edge especially when it comes to technology that thing is just on a whole different level but that’s not to say the s8 isn’t exceptional i love the way this car drives
It’s buttery smooth it’s quiet and when you want to have fun that engine is still so rewarding ultimately i think the s-class does have the edge over this but that’s not to say this isn’t a brilliant piece of kit you
Transcribed from video
NEW 2022 Audi S8: The 571 Horsepower V8 Luxury KING? By AutoTrader
